October to November is when your houses are flocked with guests, decorations, spicy food, and your very own “mithai” or sweets. After all, the festive season is knocking at the door.
Well! If you’re pregnant during this time, you must not forget, your and your baby’s health is your first priority. Without a doubt, you will have lots of weird pregnancy sweet cravings. You might even develop a massive craving for sweets during pregnancy. You may feel like having all the sweets in front of your eyes. But, be careful before you reach out to your favourite Kaju barfis or gulap jamuns! Eating too many sweets during pregnancy means increasing your insulin and glucose levels. That would neither be healthy for your baby, cuddled up inside you, nor for you.
So, how would you deal with it? Here’s how.
Can’t Get Over The Last Night’s Taste Of Kheer!
Well! Give it a punch. Mix the kheer with custard vanilla powder as well as some almonds. Replace those few spoons of sugar with some jaggery or gur. You can alternately have some sabudana kheer in double-toned milk to cover up your sweet-tooth. Along with this, you can try out some kamlalebu kheer – this is a traditional healthy Bengali orange kheer. Almonds can prevent your baby from developing neural defects, and excessive weight gain, supplies iron and enhances metabolism. Moreover, jaggery fulfils your iron requirements during your pregnancy.
Can’t Get Your Eyes Off The Kalakand Inside Your Kitchen?
If you have paneer or cottage cheese in your refrigerator, take it out now. Make some Kalakand with it. Paneer is definitely a very good source of protein as well as calcium and making some Kalakand out of it will not just be a reason to gain energy and calcium, but it will certainly be a very good option to satisfy your cravings for sweet during your pregnancy.
Can’t Wait To Grab Some Sandesh?
Enjoy a lovely Sandesh, topped with naturally sweet sliced fresh fruits like raspberries, grapefruit, kiwi, and some orange sauce. This is what exactly you need to perk up your day when everybody might be lecturing you about the foods you need to eat and not eat during pregnancy. Time to satisfy sweet cravings with natural alternative of fruits over Sandesh.
Don’t Turn Your Eyes Away From The Laddoos!
Laddoos are a must-have during the festive season. But nanchi or ragi laddoos are healthy alternatives to the sugar-laden and ghee-infused normal laddoos that you get during the festive season. Nanchi laddoos are irresistibly tasty and nutrient filled. They help in developing the iron and vitamin B in your body.
Those Chocolates In The Box Are Irresistible!
Since chocolates tend to be high in sugar, make you gain a little weight, and have a little bit of caffeine in them, you should have chocolates in moderation. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), your caffeine intake should be below 200 milligrams. Therefore, making yourself a chocolate avocado mousse would be a better idea. A creamy base of avocado is full of folate, potassium, and fat. Alternately, you can put some chocolate syrup or crushed chocolate over the mousse. In this way, your craving for chocolates during pregnancy will also reduce.
However, while you’re enjoying the sweets during pregnancy, in this festive season, don’t forget to bank your baby’s cord blood for any medical necessity.